KATE Jarvey is no stranger to receiving awards. She is one of the leading producers of elite event horses, having bred and owned the great Colorado Blue who has been campaigned with such success by Austin O’Connor and who, on winning the 5* in Maryland in 2023, became the highest-ranked Irish horse ever under the EquiRatings ELO rating system.

However, last Friday Kate’s awards took a different turn as she joined the world of academia and received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from UCC. It was a gala occasion as she received her scroll from the president of UCC, Professor John O’Halloran.

This award was a horse of a different colour with plenty of pomp and ceremony, as befits Munster’s leading centre of learning whose motto is “where Finbarr taught, let Munster learn”.

Caps and gowns were the order of the day with the presentation being carried out mainly in classical Latin, with the following academic procession led by the college Ceremonial Mace.

The honorary doctorate was to recognise and honour Jarvey’s contribution to charitable causes both here and abroad. In her philanthropic endeavours, she is following a family tradition as she was born Kate Lily in Boston and comes from the famous Eli Lily family of pharmaceutical fame.

She has always been a keen foxhunter and has been master of no less than three premier packs, the County Limerick, the Scarteen and the Duhallow.

She and her husband Frank have now been in Ireland for close on 30 years and feel very much Irish. Her latest endowment is the Crann Centre in Ballincollig, just outside Cork city.

The aim of this purpose-built and state-of-the-art facility is to act as a resource centre for those with physical and mental disabilities to allow them to live as full and rewarding lives as possible.